


Hope

by notjustmom



Series: August Writing Prompts 2019 [14]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, established pepper potts/tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 10:07:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20338372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: “Hope is not about proving anything. It's about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”― Anne LamottDay 21 Prompt: Hope





	Hope

He groaned as the sprayer slipped from his hand and sprayed the window, the wall and the shelf. The shelf full of knickknacks, found on those weekends when they got in the car and just drove, with no destination in mind, and stopped in those roadside antique shops that sold the old stuff no one wanted; and one photo. He picked up the framed picture of Peter and himself, mugging for Happy. He wiped the water from the frame with his sleeve and looked at the boy's smiling face. It had been a good day. One of the best. He shook his head as he replaced the frame, turned off the kitchen light, and wandered through the house until he found himself leaning against the doorway of their bedroom.

"She asleep?"

"Yep."

Pepper sighed and put her laptop aside, and looked up at him. 

"It's nothing."

She raised her eyebrow and waited.

"Just miss him."

"Yeah, I know."

"I think about him and Morgan, how much he would like her - she would love him. He should be here, Pep."

"You did everything you could -"

"I don't know that."

"I think you do. Come 'ere."

He shrugged and made his way to the bed and fell in, exhausted, then snuggled tightly against her shoulder, and sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair. "They gave you hope today. I know you are content now, with the life we have, but I also know, there are times when you go away, when you are back on Titan, trying to hold him together, trying to stop him from turning to dust. If you think you can find a way to bring him back, to bring them all back -"

"Pepper."

"Tony. You are who you are. The moment they drove off this afternoon, your brain cells were already whirring, trying to work out if there was any way -"

"Hope is a dangerous thing, Pep. I can't lose you, or Morgan -"

"If there is a way, Tony, I want you to try, because if anyone can do it, it's you. Remember, when you came back from Afghanistan? When everyone had thought you had lost your mind? You changed the world back then, you made it better -"

"Not always, Pep."

"Tony. You made this life, our life possible. You survived Titan for a reason, just as you survived so many times before. Maybe it's so you can bring him back, bring everyone back."

He sat up and held her face in his hands, and after a moment, kissed the tip of her nose, then pressed his lips to her forehead, and sighed, "I love you, Ms. Potts, so very much. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, Mr. Stark, I do."

He whispered, "I've got some work to do."

"Yes, you do, Mr. Stark, yes, you do."


End file.
